ABSTRACT
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) was created in 1971, in a time of grave concerns about feeding the world. This chapter addresses the question for those unfamiliar with its origins, reviewing its unique characteristics and its early scope. The World Bank has always played a special leadership role in the CGIAR: leading its early development; serving as a cosponsor; providing the CGIAR/Fund Council Secretariat; and always providing the chair. One of the critical roles historically played by the CGIAR – that is, a link between advanced institutions, public and private, and developing countries' national programs is eroding. The chapter concludes with some thoughts about how the CGIAR would be better off restructuring from the bottom up, rather than fiddling endlessly with successive layers of management and governance superstructure–leaving the basic building blocks, the centers, unchanged.
